The Mistletoe Mission
by Blade of Justice
Summary: Pongsmas has come to Gamindustri, and everyone has gathered together at a holiday bash to make merry and, in the case of some, rub their hauls in their friends' faces. Nepgear just wants to have fun with her friends, but... why oh why do Uni and Vert keep looking up at the ceiling like that?


It was Pongsmas Day in Gamindustri. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but celebrations about. Children all across Gamindustri were happily playing the new games they had received as gifts this morning. It was truly a sight to behold, this magical Pongsmas — commercialized though it had become (like just about everything else in Gamindustri was already), the gift-giving spirit was in full swing as parents celebrated the great bargains they'd managed to snag and their children happily bragged to their friends about the gifts they'd gotten that no one else on the street had. _They_ were top dog for the entire year, and it was all thanks to that Pongsmas gift.

Indeed... All was right with the world today.

Or was it? Of course there wasn't, there wouldn't be a story to tell if it was!

Today... There was something different about this year's Pongsmas. Today, there were a few "children" that were not satisfied with the gifts they had received. Today, there were a few children that had their eyes on a very different gift this year. A special, one of a kind, one time only gift. The kind of gift no fat robots and their reindeer or parents could ever be able to buy. This was a gift that the children knew they had to get for themselves.

Today, these special children were after the once in a lifetime gift of catching Nepgear, the little sister of Planeptune's goddess, under the mistletoe in order to take the gift of her kiss for themselves.

Best of luck, kids!

* * *

><p>Pongsmas had come for the CPUs and CPU Candidates. While their battle for shares had become more peaceful in recent years, that didn't mean their relationship was without friendly competition. One such competition was the yearly Pongsmas party: Every year, a different nation would host a gathering for the CPUs, CPU Candidates, and all of their friends. While it was never really stated <em>outright<em>, this had of course ended up becoming a yearly battle to outdo the last person that had hosted the party.

And this year? It was Planeptune's turn to host.

Naturally, Neptune, being Neptune, lover of pudding and bragging and bragging about pudding, had decided to celebrate Pongsmas with a bang. And by bang, she had settled on a party, complete with a huge fireworks display, with one huge firework set off for every tenth of a share Planeptune had more than everybody else. When she'd sent out the party invitations, this meant that the fireworks extravaganza was going to be _huge_! ... Unfortunately, because she had left that little tidbit in the invitations, by the time Pongsmas actually came around...

"You suck, Noire." Wiping away mock tears, Neptune shoved a bundle of explosives into the arms of the black haired goddess, before moving on to the next person in line, Vert... And after her was Blanc. All three of them were silently exchanging looks of victory — all the gloating _they_ needed was being handed to them in a bow by Neptune here. "And you suck too, Vert. And you Blanc, you reeeaaally suck... You guys are worse than the Grinch!"

... Planeptune actually _owed_ the other nations a handful of fireworks. At least it was nothing drastic!

"Looking at all of these..." Noire smirked as she looked over the piles of fireworks the three goddesses had been handed by Neptune. Vert and Blanc's were about even, but hers? _Hers_ was the biggest one. Even if it was only by a few tenths of a share compared to them, she'd take that win and gladly run with it. "It looks like Lastation wins. Next year is on us then."

"My, I don't remember this ever being a contest. Do you remember that conversation, Blanc?" Vert, ignoring Noire's posturing almost entirely, chose to place a hand to her mouth and act like she was surprised by this turn of events. The nerve of her! ... Even if they actually _hadn't_ had any such conversation beforehand... "I get the feeling Noire is just using this as an excuse to brag she has 0.3% more shares than we do. That's so... cute."

Blanc simply snorted in response. She clearly didn't need to do anything here — she'd come out of this standing about even with Vert, Noire was looking like she was going to blow a gasket, and Neptune was whimpering on the side over there. This? This was a win she could take without much complaint, easy. Even if she wasn't saying anything, she could stand here and just bask in the victory if she wanted to. It always was like this with the foru of them, wasn't it? Merry Pongsmas to her and all of that nonsense.

At least... That was what she had been thinking for the first minute.

On the other hand, if they were just going to stand around like this and waste the whole Pongsmas away, then Blanc could have let Rom and Ram come here by themselves and stayed home. Time to improvise, she supposed.

"I'm going to get some food. Neptune will probably pig out to feel better so I want to get some while there's still some _to_ get." With her plans made clear, Blanc looked at the three CPUs before her, waiting almost expectantly. With this out of the way, they could get to the party now, and she'd given them a good a way as any to get back into it... but it looked like they were still preoccupied. Probably with sorting out wounded pride or whatever. Normally she might be right there with them, but today, she had no reason to feel that way, and even less desire to waste her time. "Suit yourself."

Shrugging, Blanc turned from the three CPUs and left them to their own devices. Her target: The food table. Hopefully the CPU Candidates hadn't gone through all of the Pongsmas Pie yet. She'd been looking forward to seeing what Compa would cook up from the moment it had been decided this year's party would be on Planeptune's back...

As for the other CPUs- Though it took her a minute, the subject of food finally managed to snap Neptune out of her I-lost-to-everybody-boo-hoo-woe-is-me stupor, at which point she perked right back up like a dogoo first thing in the morning. One could practically see the metaphorical tail wagging as she surveyed the room. Friends! Food! Fun! Who cared if the others had beaten her _by a little_ in shares? She'd have 'em back before the New Year, and then they'd know who was boss all over again!

"But in the meantime..." Grinning, Neptune turned to the two remaining CPUs. She could always settle her loss _much_ sooner with an eating contest! "Come on, girls! Enough standing around like an anime character! Now it's time to _eat_ like an anime character! So hows about we skedaddle on over there and go have some of Compa's delicious melon cakes? Oh, there's always some of her scrumptious milk pudding! How about it, huh? Sounds preeeeetty taste if you ask me."

To Neptune's dismay, her classy attempt at catching their attention seemed to go completely unnoticed. IF didn't even appear from out of nowhere to enter the scene by means of hitting her. What a complete and total letdown!

"Fine, you guys are no fun! I'm gonna go spend time with some people who _actually_ get what it's like to be festive and cheery and stuff! You know... People like Blanc! So see you gals _later_." As she made her way in the direction that the other CPU had gone off in, Neptune couldn't help but consider her words. Blanc? Cheery? _Festive_? "Never thought I'd find myself saying something like _that_... Wonder why Noire and Vert are feeling like such killjoys today... Oh, hey, Compa's melons- Owwie! I meant the food, Iffy, the _food_!"

And then there were two.

As it turned out, neither of the remaining CPUs were particularly invested in the "battle" that had taken place over shares and fireworks and so on. Their minds were elsewhere now. For the two of them, their battle was only just getting started.

Any moment now, _their_ battles would commence in earnest...!

Yes, any moment now, they would...

... Any moment now...

... Any... moment...

Oh for_ crying_ out loud...! Vert rolled her eyes as she shot a look at Noire. The black haired CPU was staring pointedly at the floor now, clearly deep in thought — and Vert was very sure she knew exactly what the CPU was thinking about. Just _thinking_ about it wouldn't do her, or Vert, any good at all, however. Vert couldn't very well make her move until Noire left — Noire was the kind of girl that would latch onto any distraction from doing this sort of thing for as long as she could, even if it meant missing out on what she oh so _obviously_ was after. In order for Vert to get the ball rolling, it seemed she'd need to give Noire's a little shove first as well.

"My... There sure is a _lot_ of mistletoe out today. I can't believe they got it to float around like that... Oh goodness, it seems like just about _anyone_ could get hit by it. Maybe Neptune's planning something." Vert wanted to giggle at the face Noire made upon Vert saying Neptune's name, but it would do her own mission no good if she started getting haughty like that now. Instead, she just offered a smile. "Or maybe... someone _else_ has some plans in mind? Plans for Neptune, maybe?" And after letting that hang in there air for _just_ a moment, enjoying every second of Noire looking more and more nervous... "It _sure_ would be something if one of those little plants just so happened to cross Neptune's path while she's getting her food... Especially with her standing next to Blanc like she-"

That did it. Noire was off towards the food table without so much as a word to Vert — not that Noire really needed to say anything to her. Her eyes were trained in the direction of a very familiar head of very familiar purple hair.

Which was quite the coincidence, really.

Vert's eyes were drifting in a... _similar_ direction.

The blonde CPU smiled cheerily as she set off towards the other side of the room — towards where the CPU Candidates were currently gathered.

"And now it's time for the _real_ reindeer games to get started."

* * *

><p>Not that she was the bragging type (that was her sister's job after all), but Nepgear was having a <em>wonderful<em> Pongsmas so far. She'd woken up to a copy of the newest _Sonia and Maria at the_ _Lowympic Games_ title alongside a bunch of new model robots for her to build and paint and admire and stroke and admire and do all sorts of other fun things with later, and to top it all off? Neptune had actually made _her_ breakfast (by means of buying it pre-made, anyway — still, for Neptune, that was a pretty big deal!), she'd managed to get everyone she knew the most perfect presents she could think of, and now she was having a Pongsmas party with all of her friends!

Of course, for now, "all of her friends" was limited to her fellow CPU Candidates, but considering that everyone else _was_ around, she knew she'd be able to see them all before the day was done. Besides, getting to spend time with Uni, Ram, and Rom in itself certainly wasn't anything she could complain about. The four of them had finished eating their pie and cake already, so while Nepgear could see some of their sisters were just now getting down to eating (Nepgear knew it was smart of her to get to it before Neptune), they could relax without fear of losing out on all the delicious sweets.

All in all, Nepgear was pretty happy. She just hoped the same was true of her friends — because in her mind, nothing could possibly make this Pongsmas any better after how gosh darn _pleasant_ it had been already. Maybe she should ask, just to be sure...

"Are you enjoying yourselves, everyone?" Nepgear looked from one face to the next for confirmation. Ram seemed happy enough. She had managed to find a candy cane almost as big as her head somewhere and was happily wearing it down — no time for speaking, it seemed. Nepgear would have to take it before it got too pointy though. Next to her, Rom seemed to be looking... quiet? Well, that was typical for Rom, Nepgear supposed, but something about it seemed off to Nepgear. Maybe she wanted some of Ram's candy cane? "You two seem well enough. How about you, Uni?"

Last of their motley crew was Lastation's CPU Candidate. She was actually the reason Nepgear hadn't just assumed her friends were enjoying themselves as much as she was — ever since the party had started, Uni had been acting... Well... _Odd_. At some instances, she would be acting nicer than usual, and at others, she would be acting meaner. And she kept looking away too, like she wasn't paying attention to the other three CPU Candidates... Nepgear was starting to worry about her.

"Me?" Uni's response was an absentminded one. This time she was looking up, somewhere... well, Nepgear wasn't particularly invested in seeing where Uni was looking, or why she kept craning her neck like that. She was more invested in making sure Uni had a good a Pongsmas as she was having! Which didn't seem like it was going to be possible with how distracted Uni was acting. "O-Oh, uh, I'm fine Nepgear. Just keep standing there. N-Not that I care where you stand! ... But don't move, seriously, okay?"

"O...kay..." Despite her response, Nepgear couldn't help but frown at the other girl's actions. She had no idea what Uni was going on about right now, but she suspected if her sister were here, she'd say something about tsunderes. Probably. Either way, Nepgear wouldn't understand, and it would get her no closer to solving this mystery! That meant it was time to put on her dramatic crime solving music (which only played in her head at moments like this — no one ever let her have fun when she wanted to! ... well, there was that, but it was primarily that the twins had all the good mystery solving music copyrighted), and began to think. "Hmmm..."

She would have to start by looking at the clues. The first one was that Uni wanted her to stand still for _some reason_. The second one was that Uni was acting very distracted, and seem _strangely_ drawn to the _ceiling_... The last clue, but perhaps the most important clue of all... was that this was all taking place during a _Pongsmas party_!

With such obvious clues, surely Nepgear would be able to solve the mystery of Uni's dilemma! Shouldn't she?

... Shouldn't... she...?

As it turned out, after a few minutes of giving it some serious consideration, consideration that would have put Felix Wright to shame, Nepgear finally had enough. She hung her head and sighed, feeling like she had totally failed. Uni didn't even seem to _notice_, as she was too busy paying attention to something up other _there_ now... Nepgear just didn't get it. She didn't get it one bit.

This CPU Candidate was completely and utterly stumped.

What in Gamindustri could _possibly_ have gotten Uni so distracted? It just didn't make sense! This was a Pongsmas party! How could anything be more distracting than the festivities?

She supposed there was nothing she could do... If Uni wanted to spend the party this way, then was there anything Nepgear could really do about it? At least she could still spend some time with her other friends.

Little did Nepgear know that Pongsmas "festivities" with her were _exactly_ what had Uni so distracted.

"My, you girls seem to be enjoying yourselves! Oh, and you all look so _cute_ all dolled up in red and white for the occasion too! Here, let me give you your gifts now that I've got the chance..."

As it turned out, the appearance of a certain blonde CPU was all Uni needed to start paying attention to the group before her again. The busty young woman cheerily surveyed the four CPU Candidates, greeting each of them with a smile as she began to give them each a neatly wrapped package. For some reason, she lingered on Nepgear when she gave her _her_ gift... but soon enough, she was standing before Uni, a dangerously knowing look on her face. The black haired Candidate knew she would have to step up her game now — her competition had finally arrived.

And Uni was _so_ hoping she could have pulled this off _before_ then too...!

"And here is _your_ gift, Uni. Or were you hoping for something else?" Eyes twinkling mischievously, Vert held out her gift for the Lastation girl to take, still all smiles as she did so. To an outsider, the exchange would have looked perfectly natural. Vert did love playing with the CPU Candidates, and Uni just so happened to _be_ a CPU Candidate. While whatever she was playing at might not have been as obvious, this sort of back and forth wasn't that odd for her. Especially considering... "My, you really _do_ look cute, though, Uni. Those ribbons in your hair are quite a nice touch."

A fierce blush erupted on Uni's cheeks at the sudden attack on her appearance. H-How dare Vert try to...! No, she... She was just trying to distract Uni, that was all, she didn't _really_ mean...

"I-I just threw them on." Crossing her arms, the girl tossed her head to the side, her twintails flying through the air in perfect harmony as she did so. Both Vert and Nepgear giggled at the sight, while Ram snorted into her hand. Nepgear was just glad that Uni was seemingly back to normal, while Vert really _did_ find the mini-tsundere's antics adorable. If only _Noire_ could be as appealing, then they'd have so much more to talk about! "It's not a big deal. Don't make a big deal about it."

"I think it's cute too, Uni." Nepgear commented hopefully. Maybe this was the kind of conversation that would get things back on track for her friend! She certainly had to give it a shot — and Uni certainly _did_ look cute today. "Vert is right, you should-"

As Nepgear tried to continue with _her_ plan, she found herself being cut off — cut off by an all too familiar, all too comfortable, all too _soft_ feeling. The feeling of Vert sidling on up riiiiight next to her. Why, she could be Nepgear's stocking stuffer if she wanted to be!

"Um... Vert? Is there something the matter?" Smiling awkwardly at the blonde, Nepgear looked to her side towards the CPU that had appeared there as though she had already downed all the eggnog. That certainly didn't seem to be the case _yet_, but Nepgear wasn't going to chance it. She certainly _seemed_ sober enough, though... Was this all some big joke that she was missing? Nepgear really hated when that happened.

"Oh, I was just agreeing is all! You _did_ say I was right, didn't you, Nepgear?" Strangely enough, Vert wasn't looking at Nepgear as she spoke. Her gaze was drawn elsewhere... _Upwards_, even. How peculiar. Were there bugs around? Nepgear didn't think so... Maybe Histoire had invited some relatives she and Neptune didn't know about to the party? After the other world's Histoire, nothing would surprise Nepgear at this point. "And I _am_ right, aren't I?"

Uni didn't like this. It was too soon for Vert to be making a move, wasn't it? And it was so _obvious_! ... Okay, it was so obvious to _her_ what Vert was after, anyway. Wasn't that close enough? More to the point, was Vert just going to stay that close to Nepgear

The CPU Candidate's eyes widened as she looked in the direction Vert was looking.

_Mistletoe was headed straight for them_ — _no, it was heading_ _for... Nepgear! It was now or never, Uni!  
><em>

"I-If you think I'm so cute, then come over here and show me which parts...!" Throwing caution and pride to the wind, Uni pushed up against Vert's other side in a bold attempt to get her away from Nepgear. If anyone could stop her — if anyone _should_ stop her — it was her! "I-Is it my hair? My dress? Or, um... Maybe my..."

Despite the fact that Uni was clearly trying to get in her way, Vert couldn't help but be delighted at this turn of events. Oh, she would still get the prize she was after, and there wasn't a single thing in the world Uni could do to stop her, but getting an appetizer in the form of teasing Uni was not at all something she would claim to be opposed to. Time to see just how far this CPU Candidate was prepared to go...

"My, Uni, you aren't wrong about any of that, but I was thinking..." The blonde's gaze flickered back and forth from the incoming floating plant to Uni and back again. She could practically _kiss_ Neptune for putting this all together and letting her have this opportunity, but that wouldn't be very fair to Noire, now would it? Maybe next year! In the meantime, she was dying to see how Uni would handle a cold splash of the truth. "... your _legs_. Yes, those look quite lovely with those stockings, wouldn't you say? What's that saying again? _Absolute territory_, isn't it?"

Uni's eyes bulged with Vert's words — the fact that she could practically feel the older girl's breath on her skin, which was turning an even lovelier shade of pink now, with their proximity did her no favors at all, either. She wasn't about to be stopped here, though...! This was her chance to finally kiss Nepgear!

"R-Really? Aren't I a little young for you, Vert?" Surprised at her own boldness, Uni began her counterattack. Her plan? Think like Noire. And _Noire's_ plan (in Uni's mind)? _Think __like Blanc_. For Uni, who had seen very little of Blanc over the course of her life, this was going to prove rather difficult. "M-Maybe you're just..."

This was the part where something foul was supposed to come out of her mouth. A heinous implication, a suggestive question directed at Vert's tastes... _Something_, at least!

Unfortunately, all Uni could manage was muttering something unintelligible about sizes. It took everything she could muster to not look down at the ground in shame, but she knew that the moment she did was the moment that she would be practically _giving_ Nepgear's kiss to Vert!

Vert smirked at the lack of a comeback. Was that all Uni had to give? In that case, just a little more of a push, and Nepgear would be ripe for the picking!

"Now then, Uni, why... don't you go get us some refreshments, hmm? This has been _lovely_, but I think... You could _really_... Put those lovely legs of yours to use right about now...!" She continued to push Uni more and more with each word she spoke — at some point, while she wasn't looking at the girl, they had taken the other's hands in their own, and for all intents and purposes were truly locked in combat now. Or... locked in _something_, anyway. "It's not... _that_ far...! You'll only be gone a minute...!"

_And a minute is alllll she needed!_

Uni's eyes narrowed. With how close the mistletoe was, even stepping away for a second could cost her everything — there was no way she was going anywhere for _refreshments_! Especially when the most refreshing thing of all was what she was after in the first place...!

"If it's... only a _minute_ you're worried about, t-then..." Pushing back with each and every word _she_ spoke, Uni did her best to fight against the onslaught that was the mighty MMO Queen Green Heart on a quest — the quest today being the quest for Nepgear's lips. As worried as Uni was about how disrespectful this might make her look, right now, there was just... too... much.. _on... the... line!_ "Then why don't... _you_... go get them...? S-Show me how it's done...!"

The two continued this epic struggle for what seemed like an eternity, neither willing to give in to the other. It seemed like it would go on forever, but they both knew it couldn't — any moment now, the mistletoe would be upon them, and _they_ had to be the one next to Nepgear when it got there! The other girl _had... to... **go**...!_

And thus... the battle raged on.

Just a few feet away, watching this all take place and seemingly all but forgotten, were the other CPU Candidates... Among them, not that she was aware, the reason this battle was being waged in the first place. The prize of prizes, the maiden of maidens, the beauty of beauties...!

Nepgear.

Confused, Nepgear stepped back and tilted her head as she watched Uni and Vert do an odd sort of interpretive dance in front of her. Someone more intuitive would have thought they might be trying to talk to her, but now they were _both_ looking up for some reason, rather than at her. Not only that, they were pushing so, _so_ hard against each other... With the clothes that Nepgear now realized matched perfectly, it was hard to tell where one of them began and the other ended! And they were _still_ looking up! Goodness, what a silly thing to do this all was! If they weren't careful, they were going to slip and...

"Kyaaaa_mmmmph_!?"

"Oh... Oh my! Oh my goodness!" Nepgear covered her mouth, a bright scarlet blush finding its way to her cheeks as she observed the scene before her. Whatever the two had been _trying_ to do, she certainly doubted it had all been done with the intent of pinning someone to the ground (Vert) or getting pinned by someone else to the ground (Uni) and... and _kissing_! And w-what a kiss...! What the goodness was going on...?! "A-Are you two okay? Um, um, um... Oh no, they're turning red! They're not moving...! They must be running out of air...! Ram, Rom, can you help me help them up?"

While the ever so flustered Nepgear tried to make her way over in order to help her two friends out — finding the entire thing positively _scandalous..._ and not necessarily in a _bad_ way either... — following along next to her, Ram just found the entire thing _hysterical_. As such, rather than give Nepgear a helping hand, she instead chose to give the two tangled bodies on the floor a round of applause. And by applause, of course, she meant laughter. Lots and lots of laughter.

"Hahahaha! Look, Rom, look! They're kissing! They're _kissing_! Look at..." The CPU Candidate trailed off as she realized her mirth wasn't being shared. In fact, there wasn't anyone next to her to share any_thing_ with. Now where had Rom gotten to? She wasn't helping Nepgear struggle to help Uni and Vert up... Oh well. It was still funny to Ram! "Awwwwww, come on Nepgear, don't help them _too_ soon, they were totally asking for-" Oh, was that glare from Uni directed at her? Gulp! It was! Maybe she should stop while she was ahead. "I think I'll help too!"

It took a few moments — it didn't help that the two girls in question seemed to be having mental breakdowns over what had just occurred, meaning their input was not only limited but extremely unhelpful as far as untangling them went — but at long last, Nepgear and Ram had pulled Vert and Uni apart and gotten them back upright again. Neither of them seemed particularly interested in looking up anymore either — instead choosing to look _down_ with the occasional shy glance to the girl at their side.

It was so ridiculous! Nepgear hadn't been able to understand either of them throughout this entire mess, and now they were starting down an entirely different track from the looks of things! Well Nepgear had had just about enough of these shenanigans — unless the shenanigans led to the two of them kissing again, anyway, for some reason she felt... strangely, but at the same time _extremely_ okay with that part. This was supposed a party for having fun, not awkward dancing, accidental kisses, and no eye contact whatsoever!

Wait... Hold on...

"Goodness... That _does_ sort of sound like a party, doesn't it?" Nepgear pondered to herself, raising a thoughtful finger to her chin as she considered this. Perhaps she had been too quick to judge her two friends? Did it really matter that much, though? Nepgear wouldn't have minded the two of them doing their strange dance and kissing like that at _all_ if they had just bothered to talk to the rest of them! They were at a party, not on a date! It was rude to make everyone else into third wheels like that, wasn't it? It was! Deciding that this was the right train of thought to be on and correct course of action to take, and was not at all her wanting to know more about what had led to her two friends kissing like they had, Nepgear turned an inquiring eye towards the two stammering girls and began her inquisition. "Okay, which one of you is going to be the one to tell me what that was all about?"

"M-My, Nepgear, I... That's..." Vert trailed off, looking surprisingly helpless. Whatever she had been thinking when she'd come over, she wasn't thinking it now. Was she even thinking _anything_ right now?

"I-It wasn't _about_ anything..." Sounding rather helpless herself — perhaps as helpless as Vert looked — Uni spoke up next, trying to pick up where Vert left off... and not really answering much of anything at all. Well this really wasn't getting them anywhere, now was it?

"Y-Yes, that's right! It... I... Yes..." Vert gave it another try when Uni left her response in the air like she had, giving the black haired girl a look that Nepgear almost wanted to say felt strangely familiar, but she still wasn't getting anything out of this conversation!

Sighing, the CPU Candidate turned her head towards Uni, in the hopes that her once-sort-of-rival and now close friend would be able to finish... whatever Vert had been trying to say and _maybe_ give her some kind of answer.

"Yeah..." ... instead, Uni just chose to look at the floor with an increasingly bright blush on her face. As cute as it was, it wasn't particularly helpful. Now Nepgear would not only never solve her mystery, but she'd never be able to bring the two of them back to reality...!

What in the world was going to happen to this party now?

Shaking her head at the vague answers Vert and Uni gave her, Nepgear turned back to the direction that the rest of the party was in. She supposed those two had a lot to talk about... or something like that. Maybe they would be ready to rejoin everything once they could clear things up? Nepgear certainly hoped the two of them would be able to manage that much, else she might have to consider stepping in...

Having resumed "party mode" herself, with no thanks to Vert and Uni's little incident, just as she was about to step away from the group and start looking for IF or Compa to talk to, Nepgear realized she was about to crash into someone herself.

"What the goodness!?" Startled, the CPU Candidate moved to take a step backwards as to not fall and so she could give the personal space intruder some space. However, the person would see none of that, quickly latching onto Nepgear's arm to keep her steady. Sighing in relief, the purple haired girl offered a smile to her savior... even if it _had_ been the girl's fault in the first place. Sort of. "T-Thanks Rom... I would've fallen pretty hard if you hadn't been there for me. Were you here a minute ago, though...? I didn't see you when Uni and Vert fell..."

The girl before her didn't respond initially. She just quietly held on to Nepgear's arm, looking up at her and looking like she was about to cry. If Nepgear had to guess, knowing Rom... Was she trying to work up the nerve to do something, perhaps? The expression certainly seemed like the one Rom often made in those situations, but what could she be...

"U-Up... Up there, Nepgear..." As if on cue, Rom slowly raised her free hand to point upwards — towards the thing that had finally made its way over to the group... The thing that was floating right above Nepgear and Rom's heads, minding its own business without a care in the world — or without any intention of moving, it seemed.

Nepgear blinked a few times, slowly looking up in the direction Rom was pointing. She laughed when her eyes landed on what was hovering just over their heads. It was mistletoe that Rom was pointing at, was it? A small smile spread across Nepgear's lips. No wonder Rom had been having trouble speaking! She had probably been told a scary story about mistletoe and thought she had to kiss under it "or else." Or maybe she just wanted to play along and get into the spirit of things...? Either way, that wasn't so bad. Much better than getting a kiss after falling on the floor like Uni had earlier, at least.

"I see... You're really getting into the holiday spirit, aren't you, Rom?" Nepgear couldn't help but feel proud of her friend. When they'd first met, she never would have been confident enough to ask for something like this — but look at her now! She was really growing up, bit by bit, wasn't she? "Then it can't be helped. But just one kiss, okay? You're too cute to give _all_ your Pongsmas kisses to me. You have to save some for someone you _really_ want to catch under the mistletoe later."

Oh how little did Nepgear know of the world — or of the girl before her, because that was _exactly_ what Rom would have been perfectly happy doing.

It was at this moment that Vert and Uni finally managed to regain enough composure to realize what was happening right in front of them. At this point, however, there was nothing they could do... but _watch_.

Expecting nothing more than a kiss on the cheek from sweet, innocent, adorable little Rom, Nepgear obediently lowered her face within kissing distance of the younger girl — much to the rapidly increasing horror (that she was completely oblivious to) of Uni and Vert behind her. It was just one little kiss, after all? What was the worst that could happen? Smiling, hopefully giving the girl before her a reassuring look now that she had made the bold move of pointing out the mistletoe above them (it wouldn't be nice to Rom to make her feel nervous after all!), Nepgear closed her eyes and awaited the little kiss on the cheek that Rom was surely about to give her...

... and instead found herself in the middle of a niiiiice and long one _right straight on the lips_.

* * *

><p>Neptune's eyes widened as she watched her sister kiss Blanc's beneath the mistletoe. Or... More like get <em>kissed<em> by Blanc's sister under the mistletoe! Who the heck knew Rom had had it in her all along? Even across the room, she could tell that the little girl's Pongsmas... No, her whole _year_ had just been made in this moment... This moment that was lasting a really, _really_ long time... Wowzers! Look at them go! Dang...! But that wasn't all! That wasn't all at _all_! From behind the pair of liplocked CPU Candidates, Uni _and_ Vert seemed to be having some maaaajor mental breakdowns... But it was only a matter of time... Only a matter of time before they recovered, and then... Then it would only be a matter of time before...! _Before_...!

It would only be a matter of time before _Nepgear_ would have gotten more mistletoe kisses than _she_ would have!

This called for drastic action.

Neptune looked around, frantic. She couldn't wait for mistletoe — she could lie and say it was there later. Now where... Where... Aha! Wow, that was kind of weird. Had Noire been this close this whole time and she just hadn't noticed it? Oh well!

"Noire! Good! You're here! I _need_ you! Hold still, there's mistletoe above us!"

"Huh? What? You- _What_? N-No there isn't, I know because I've been watching this whole time fo-"

Needless to say, the following moment certainly made someone _else's_ Pongsmas a few times over as well.

"Okay, that's one down! It's a tie game in here! Now wheeeeere's Blanc? Aha! Oh Blaaaaa~aaaanc...!"

... only for it to be ruined by the following moment.

Oh well! Better luck next time, Noire!

Merry Kissmas to all, and to all a good night!


End file.
